We were created
to be creative!
Masterwork Academy exists to cultivate in children a love for Jesus through mastery in the arts.
Cultivating a love for Jesus
The person and work of Jesus Christ is central to our understanding of what it means to be a Masterwork. Our key verse, Ephesians 2:10, is the ethos of Masterwork Academy:
“For you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
We believe we were created to be creative and that, in the work of making, we discover who God intends us to be.
Through mastery in the arts
Masterwork Academy is a place for young artists to grow in their skill and nurture their talent. All of our artistic disciplines, Visual Art, Music, Dance, and Theatre, are taught by professional, working artists. Our students learn the tools and techniques of each of these art forms, building competence as they work toward mastery.
Students naturally gravitate to one discipline or another, but training in all four core art forms develops our students’ courage, confidence, and appreciation for the arts.
In community
It is our belief that a complete education must include training in the arts. We also recognize that access to after school art lessons can be limited. First Church Tulsa launched Masterwork Academy in 2017 as a way to meet the need for art education and express our love for our neighbors—our partner school, Anderson Elementary.
Masterwork Academy provides transportation, daily snacks, all equipment and attire needed, extra field experiences, and summer camps completely tuition- and fee-free!
Growing in creative confidence
Masterwork Academy cultivates student learning in a variety of ways. We look to the masters (here, Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers), collaborate with classmates, experiment with various types of media, techniques, and forms.
The arts not only provide an outlet for our students, they also provide a way to explore both their inner and outer worlds. In exploration, students learn to lose the fear of failure because exploration shifts the focus from product to process. In practice, students learn self-discipline and the reward of perseverance. Perseverance leads to mastery, and with mastery comes the values of intention and focus. By connecting all of these to life in Christ, we learn we are loved, valued, and have something to contribute to the common good.
In pursuit of the common good, we seek opportunities for our students to exhibit their visual art and perform vocal, instrumental, dance, and theatrical works. Each time our students create, they are learning to stretch themselves, embrace risk, and discover their creative confidence!
Growing together
Masterwork Academy is about growing individually, but it is also about growing together. As much as we believe we were created to be creative, we also believe we were created for community.
Art has an ability to create common ground and bring people together. Both artist and observer must come to the art and share it. The artist produces a work and “gives” it to the observer. The observer receives the work and, hopefully, learns something about the artist. The best art, though, also helps us learn something about ourselves.
Because it’s impossible to create a work of art and not be part of it, art has a unique combination of vulnerability and assertiveness and in that way, art can communicate deeply and on more levels than speech allows us to.
We do not suffer from a lack of resources, but from a lack of relationships.
Growing the whole artist
Masterwork Academy seeks to enrich the academic and spiritual lives of elementary students; not only by teaching visual art, dance, music, and theatre, but also by teaching our students to see to God’s work in the world around us. Noticing and naming His creative work stirs in us imaginative wonder, inspiration, and gratitude. From these raw materials, come our own good works and, thereby, we reflect our Creator as we create.
Each week, our students spend one afternoon session divided between a Bible class and physical fitness. Our Bible coursework (primarily using The New City Catechism and The Biggest Story) anchors everything we teach because, as Christians, we understand that creativity is our birthright! To quote poet and author Luci Shaw, “Our faith informs our art and our art animates our faith.”
In physical fitness, we make sure our students are on track with their gross motor skills milestones and understand the importance of taking care of our bodies so we can fully participate in the arts. We focus on learning the sports that are in season and track student progress with the classic Presidential Fitness program.
Another way we focus on nurturing the whole artist is through developing Honorable Character. Integrity, self-control, and self-discipline are key ingredients for an artist working toward mastery.
“Creativity takes courage.”
Henri Matisse